Reflection

Our group is doing very well.

We finished filming the intro and are starting to edit, which will take maybe one class period. 

Our poster is also coming along well, with both Ravyn and Katie having made a copy, both of which look good.

For the poster i was having some questions with myself on the title. 

As a short story i love the name The Boy With The Smirk, but i felt somewhat that it does not work so well as a movie title. It just didn't have a movie title ring to it. 

I wanted to somewhat give the audience a sense of the main theme, that is harder to understand in the film. I wanted to change it to Fight Of The Mind to give the audience a bit of a hint at the point, but i also love the original title. Katie ended up using the title Fight Of The Mind while Ravyn stuck with The Boy With The Smirk. And both posters turned out well.

Filming
Our group is doing well with our film.
We have an excellent rough cut that is looking really good, though there are a few shots missing that we hope to shoot this week.
We thought we were done with filming, but there are a few missing shots, mostly in the second and third acts. Our first act looks phenomenal. 
All thats left (besides that) is working on a poster, which is almost done, and possibly brainstorming a new name.
In class we've also been working on an into to CAP Hollywood that i think will turn out quite well. I am looking forward to CAP Hollywood, and am excited to see how it'll all fan out.

The Boy With The Smirk
Thus far in our short film we have made great progress. Our group has already finished most of our filming, but we might need to get some extra footage if we are missing shots.
I am on the hunt for music and sound effects currently, because there is still some dispute on which music to use.
What i would more like to talk about though, is the story of the film itself. 
For my short story i drew a lot of ideas from the basic stresses of being a student. A lot of high school students are very insecure, and though their thoughts might not be this extreme, their thoughts plague them none the less. As high school students we have the stresses of school, as well as trying to fit in and make friends, all the while doubting ourselves.
This film shows how our thoughts about ourselves can undo us.

DIY: Denim Vest
I've always been a fan of DIY. 
Though sometimes it is necessary to go out and buy something from a store like H&M, Strosniders, or REI, i prefer to buy materials and put stiff together, or take it apart.
Since i was little i loved to take stuff apart, and in middleschool i would take apart Nerf Guns, change the mechanisms so the shot harder and farther, and put them back together. I was (and am) a total nerd, so i've got painted nerf guns, lightsaber hilts, and swords i've made. 
More recently, around 8th and 9th grade, i started to realize the importance of and appreciate fashion. 
I love looking good.
So i go to Value Village, or Pennyworth, or some other thrift stores and scourge the rack in an attempt to find pieces to put together to make an excellent outfit. My latest project is making a denim vest, which i'm a big fan of.
This project is probably a bit harder than what you're used to so i would say find a friend who is advanced at DIY. You can embellish yours with patches once you're done (which i plan to do) and possibly tie dye, but for now we'll be taking baby steps.
This is a challenging project, i'd say (out of 10) a 8 or so. Hard stuff. So get either an adult or an experienced DIYer to help you.
You are going to need these materials:

• Scissors
• A denim jackett
• your pretty little self

Now here comes the hard part.
The first step is to buy the denim jacket, which can be a bit challenging cause finding one that fits right can be an intense mission.
Pay very close attention here, if you mess up you're fucked and you will never be able to attempt this again and will have to fling yourself off a cliff to make up for the embarrassment to your family and friends, so read this many times before you are confident you are ready. Here is the second and hardest step of the process.
Cut off the arms.
Congratulations! If you have not died in the process, you now have a denim vest! This is a harder project so don't take it too fast.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and will be back later.
Molly

Netflix
Netflix Instant-View is the bane of my existence. That along with Pretty Little Liars.
Back when it first aired around 2010, a lot of girls i knew watched the show because they had read the books. When i first heard about it i thought it sounded ridicules and trashy TV, and didn't think of it again.
But a few weeks ago i saw a few gif-sets on tumblr of it and thought i would check it out. Little did i know how incredibly addictive the show would be. Its on Netflix Instant-View and there is a feature that shows the next episode of a series once the one you're watching is finished. And it kills me.
I watched the entire first season in two days.
It. Is so. Good.
Every episode ends with a cliff hanger, and the show has powerful female roles, and even a lesbian couple. Especially for ABC, its a progressive show. And Netflix makes it so easy to watch.
Basically netflix is the most addictive thing i've experienced.

Stress
Who ever said high school is the best four years of your life was spinning some interesting lies. Although i have had some of the most fun times of my life so far, i have also had some of the most stressful and painful moments thus far  I'm sure that there are many more horrible things to coe, and more stress than what should be humanly tolerable, but i'll also experience pure unadulterated joy.
Its just. High school is very stressful. Because how well you do in high school dictates how successful you are going to be in the rest of your life according to America's standard.
These tiny four years, and how hard you work during them, how good you are at working the system, how smart you are compared to others, dictates your entire future.
Its just not cool man.
Not cool.

Exit Through The Gift Shop
Exit Through The Gift Shop is an excellent observational documentary about street art and the street artist Banksy and Thierry Guetta. It starts out talking about various street artists and where the do their art. It has interviews with many and follows them as they prep and do their art. The film was originally about street artists but Guetta met street artist Banksy along the way and the camera was then turned onto Guetta and was about his rise as a street artist. 
The film is about Shepard Fairey who is known for his OBEY posters, Space Invader, Banksy, and Thierry Guetta. It addresses the conflict with street artists and the police, and street artists motives and the messages they intend to get across. 
The film had a few literary aspects, including conflict with street artists and the police, and in the end Banksy and Guetta. The film had a dark and yet adventurous mood and took place in multiple locations, such as London, New York, and LA.  The point of view was mostly that of a member of the street artists crew or friends who help them to put up their art. 
There was little dramatic aspects to the film because it was a very raw documentary with little prep for the footage, which was mostly taken by hand held cameras going along with street artists. There were interviews which took place in rooms that were probably post shooting of the raw footage. The film was very uncommercial and non dramatic. 
The cinematic aspects of the film were more obvious, such as music over the movie and narration and diegetic sound. The shots were mostly from hand held cameras being held by the director himself, and lighting was flashlights at night when posters were being put up, and light on interviewees (except Banksy who prefers to stay anonymous).
It was an overall great film that really brings you into the world of graffiti and street art. After watching it it really made me want to go out and tag things up (i didn't of course). The film shows you the motives of street artists and is inspiring, though it makes you have doubts about Guetta's purposes. It seems that he only does street art for fame and fun, whereas people like Banksy and Shepard Fairey do it to get a message across.
If you have time go watch the film, it is definitely worth it. 

Presents
Tis the season of gift giving, and for the first time ever i've actually been able to buy my friends gifts. Most of the time i am the absolute worst giver of gifts.
I never have enough money to buy the presents.
I never go out and get them.
I never know what to get people.
But this year i have spent a decent amount of time into gifts, but it makes me understand how difficult buying gifts is. For only six friends i have already spent upwards of 60 dollars. Thats just for going to the local arts store and record store. I've been saving money from baby sitting for two months and have depleted in my savings in two hours. 
Being able to buy gifts is a difficult feat and i already feel bad for not being able to buy some of my friends presents. So it makes you think about people who are unable to buy presents at all and the fact that Santa brings rich kids the best presents. Because of capitalism many people can't necessarily get the most or best presents for their kids. America has such a consumerism culture that christmas is about buying the most gifts, at least for kids. And its sad.
I know this is kind of conflicting with my last post, but there are good and bad things about the holidays. Its just good to put everything in perspective.

Chrstmus
Christmas is a wonderful season, its one of my favorites in fact. I just love the smells of pine and cinnamon. The lights emblazoning houses. The sound of firewood crackling in fireplaces. The joy and anticipation of presents being opened. Bing Crosby and Reba Mcentire singing carols and songs of trees and Santa.
The only thing i don't like about christmas is the expectation of one having to be christian to join in this mirthful holiday. I've always thought of it as a holiday about love, family, happiness, and appreciating others. Not Jesus's birth. I've grown up an atheist, never thinking there was a god or that the Bible and Jesus should be harkend.  My parents grew up Catholic and Protestant, but are now atheists and our family has never been to church. And yet my family celebrates Christmas. Christmas is no longer about religion for some (although christmas mass and religion is definitaly still a part of it for many).
Christmas is a time of gift giving, and celebrating, and hot chocolate, and snow. Now i'm not saying the religion of Christmas should be abolished, i'm not really sure what i'm saying... Only that it can and should be celebrated by anyone who wishes to take part in the season. For that reason it should be called Chrsmus. 
On that note i leave you with a gif in light of the holidays. 

Technology
For a while i have tried to put up old post that my computer some how lost, but blogger wasn't working right on my computer. I tried to figure it out (I had to download a plug in or update adobe or something) but i ended up using my mother's computer.
This whole escapade has brought upon my thoughts on a subject that often keeps me up at night.  What would humans do if we lost technology? Not all technology, but computers and phones. I do realize that 30 years ago this was the case, but in a society that is so focussed on being instantly amused or distracted with texting and the internet what would we do? 
I remember that when i was a child i prided myself in the fact that i could entertain myself with out the internet, and yet when hurricane Sandy threatened power being available i was on tumblr rapidly in the fear that i couldn't go on once power was lost. I find myself wasting my days on tumblr as opposed to going on a walk or reading or even taking a nap. I used to hate the idea of going on the computer all the time and now it is all i spend my time doing. 
There is a new tv show on NBC called Revolution, check it out here, which has a great take on the subject. 
Now we are so reliant on the entertainment and distraction of the internet. We rely on it for advice, directions, laughs, boredom, and even jobs. If we were to loose that all of a sudden... Its just interesting to think about it. 

**Sorry, i seem to be having problems with the blog. Posts i made have not been showing up. I'm trying to find them and sort it out.

For today i leave you with a wonderful video to lift your spirits as i attempt to get previous posts.

Thoughts.
Something i dont undertand is train of thought. What leads it?
I know that in my case i have a very strange train of thought, and i can go from thinking about a tv show to thinking about flying squirrels. Train of thought is such an interesting thing, because once you start thinking about it, and thinking about what you're thinking  you get into a cycle of intense philosophical and complex thoughts that tend to get crazier and crazier. Sometimes you can descend into existential dilemmas. 
But that is on a rare occasion. Most of the time my brain just jumps from subject to subject thinking about all the various information in my brain. But why is it my brain keeps these subjects. A lot of the information is completely irrelevant to learning and every day life, and yet it stays stored up in my brain waiting to be a topic of intrest for when i'm trying to go to sleep. Its always when I go to sleep that my thoughts decide to rage rampant. They skitter about in my brain keeping me from sleeping, all of my regrets and worries decide to attack me as i drift off.
This post alone shows how hectic my thought process is, it jumps from topic to topic because when i talked about one thing it made me think of another and so on and so forth.
So i guess what i'm trying to say is that brains are weird, and i dont get why zombies like to eat them.

Words. Words. Words.
I am an actress. I'm in a youth theater group that does Shakespeare and therefore focuses very much on the spoken word. Because of this we focus greatly on annunciation and consents and speech. 
And yet despite all this, for some reason, i have lost the ability to talk. I will be talking to someone or trying to voice an idea and my tung refuses to function and i cannot speak. When i am reading lines and memorizing lines i do fine, but when it comes to conversing i am inept. 
This did not used to be the case. I used to do well in my annunciation, but my speech has slowly deteriorated so that i will merely make sounds and move my tung around. my theory is that my mouth has decided to go on strike because i clench my jaw from all my stress, i forget to brush my teeth when i'm up late doing homework, and so on and so forth. 
Well if my mouth is going on strike i guess i'll just have to talk less, do more yoga, and keep on keepin on. 

Hello there
Well hello there. These blogs, as you may or may not have noticed, are for school and were used for assignments given to us by our teachers. Now when i'm on my tumblr i'm more likely to talk about something that interests me, but a school blog... not so much. Since this was the case for many students our teachers decide to change the assignment. All we have to do is make at least one post a week, on any topic we like.
But the question is, what to do with it? Should i make this a blog dedicated to one thing? A blog about my life and its challenges. A blog about a fandom i like. It could be about anything.
I really like the fact that they have given us this freedom, but now i have the conundrum of not knowing what to write about.
I assume that i will end up writing about what ever comes to mind and whatever has been prominent that week. And, to the joy of the CAP teachers i assume, i'm most likely gonna end up using it far more often. Although i'm not going to follow any blogs, because as of yet i dont know how, but i will be posting more often.
So i'd like to say thank you to the CAP teachers for giving us this freedom. It will be fun.

Scriptwriter:
The script is going well and we are progressing well. The script incorporates various elements of a dystopia such as  the government using propaganda to control its citizens who is fear of the outside world or in this case the surface of earth, the citizens are living in a dehumanized state as slaves of the government, the people have a fear of the natural world which is said to be uninhabitable, and citizens conform to uniform expectations. We incorporate these elements into the trailer with shots of these things happening, character's dialogue, and text which all explain the situation or show these plot elements. There are approximately 7 scenes in our trailer, and it starts with a montage of clips overlapping with the sun which gets brighter to show what happened to the earth, and then follows the main character while she finds out what is wrong with the government. The trailer then shows the government's actions against the main character and her evasion of them.  Its a progression of her story and the actions taken against her by the antagonists.

Serenity. Joss Whedon. PG-13. 2005
Malcom Reynolds (Nathan Fillian) and his crew must run from an assassin, sent by the tyranical government, to kill a member of their crew who is telepathic.

The trailer for Joss Whedon's Serenity shows a dystopia with displaying a corrupt society and government. From the trailer alone you can discern that the government in manipulative and cruel in hiring an assassin to find and kill an innocent, though slightly off her rocker, teenage girl because she is telepathic. The costumes, effects, and scenery of the trailer also greatly affect the trailer to show a stunning dystopia of Joss Whedon's invention.

My 5x5

1.  A shot of me walking downstairs to get a snack.
2.  A shot from within the refrigerator of me getting out the milk.
3. A shot of me getting down cereal from above the fridge. 
4. A shot of me getting a spoon out of the utensils drawer.
5.  A shot of me moving around my cereal so that it all gets wet.

When i shot my 5x5 i had little trouble, and it only took me about 20 minutes. I just used a little rinky-dink camera we had in the house, and the iMovie HD on my Mac, and everything went smoothly.

I liked my 5x5, though i found as i made it that i wanted to include more footage.The little 5 second clips seemed to short, though i like how it turned out.

I think we should do a small film from the perspective of an inanimate object. The film would not have a voiceover, so as to make it a challenge to express what it is like to be that object. I think this would be interesting and a bit challenging, and fun.

For the movie review i think we should be granted freedom in our writing. For certain movies its hard to follow a rubric and it would fit better to be allowed to make our own outline. All the reviews should have basic things like a plot overview and descriptions of the main characters, but if your film focusses on certain things go into depth on those, like cinematography or effects.

Welcome welcome welcome. This is my blog, and although i have already wrote the mandatory post for school, i thought it would be fun to just write a post of my own. I mean hey. It gives it a bit of a personal touch and proves that I'm not entirely a drone of the school system. Well. What to write about is the question?  The unruly amount of homework given to us? The extent to which i accidentally harm myself (I've become quite clumsy...)? Or the many reasons why we should have tumblrs as opposed to google blogs. How bout kittens. I like kittens. They are adorable. And cute. And i want to own one. And snuggle it. And love it. Because kittens are the most amazing beings on earth.
M-Becks

Its baby me. And my sistahs.